Selfie sticks rule holiday season as must-have accessory

Once only used by tourists who didn’t care to look as such, the “selfie stick” fought back and came in as 2014’s gift of the year this holiday season.

A retractable pole can that clamps onto smartphones enabling users to take better photos of themselves, camera shops and department stores are having a hard time keeping the device on shelves.

Bloomberg reports hundreds of thousands of selfie sticks have likely sold in the U.S. since this summer, including about 100,000 in December alone, though there’s no official tally since the products are so new to market. The items became popular in camera shops over the summer and demand intensified around Thanksgiving after Time magazine named the selfie stick one of the best inventions of the year.

Ranging from $10 to $30, most sticks require users to set a timer on their smartphone to take the shot. Some come with bluetooth remotes.  

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